Tom Harkin: “Frankly, I wonder if we are in parallel worlds and we are talking about the same thing but in a different context. My…”

“Frankly, I wonder if we are in parallel worlds and we are talking about the same thing but in a different context. My friend, the Senator from Maine, seems to be ignoring the very careful limitations that TSA has placed on collective bargaining rights. For example, under the provisions of TSA, the transportation security officers cannot bargain over pay. They cannot bargain over pay. They cannot bargain over deployment procedures--who works where. The Senator mentioned the incident involving Great Britain; they had to train people overnight. Well, they cannot bargain on training either. That is not part of the bargaining rights they would have. The Senator mentioned about the deployment of people to Denver because of a blizzard. Well, deployment procedures, who works where, is not again subject to collective bargaining. Emergency response measures, that was the one dealing with Great Britain. On emergency response measures, who goes where, how long they have to be there for an emergency response, is not negotiable. It is not part of the collective bargaining agreement.”